THEATER: How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

I've seen a lot of plays in my day, but I have to say How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying has moved to the top of my list as one of my all time favorites. Having been in the play in high school and being a huge Harry Potter fan, the play was pure joy. The moment Daniel Radcliffe was lifted into the air in a window washer uniform I couldn't stop grinning. The retro clothes and colors, catchy tunes, and Daniel's contagious smile made for one excellent play.

One of the most famous songs from the play is "A Secretary is Not a Toy," that while trying to prove that secretaries are assets to the working of the office, simply plays upon the fact that they are sex objects. I remember when I was in the play that although I greatly enjoyed the dance number I was somewhat offended by the lyrics of the song. While women are respected more today in the office, there is now the hit TV show Mad Men which also objectifies women. Don't get me wrong, I love Mad Men for the drama and clothes, but I have had many conversations about men's view of women after watching Mad Men. One friend confessed to me that her boyfriend will repeat lines from the TV show that completely insult her as a strong, independent women. Women have made it so far from the 60s when our role was to basically do whatever men told us. But now, these period pieces could be threatening our future. Mobs of teenage girls who flock to How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying to be arms reach from Daniel Radcliffe might not notice the strong undertone of the play. I'm not trying to bash on How to Succeed or Mad Men because I adore them both. I just urge both men and women to take a step back and enjoy them for what they are, and to not get any ideas.

-Miraya

THEATER: Billy Elliot

Since last summer in New York I've been desperately wanting to see Billy Elliot. So when my cousin and aunt and uncle were visiting NY for the weekend, it was the perfect opportunity. It was kind of a spur of the moment idea to see a play. After we finished up lunch at Junior's Cheesecake at 1pm, we realized since plays were going to start in an hour and we were already in the heart of the theater district, it was worth a shot. So we popped into a few box offices and finally all agreed on Billy Elliot.

Thirty minutes later we squeezed into our seats in the 8th row and I soaked up the Broadway lights and plushy red seats. The audience was greeted by a woman explaining that this performance was the premiere for the boy playing Billy. There are about 5 different boys who act as Billy, but Giuseppe Bausilio was discovered in Switzerland and made and sold his own lip balm to earn enough money to come to the states for an audition. I was already in love with this boy.

The play was such a feel good show. I was grinning during the big numbers and in awe of the advances choreography that the small children were all doing and wished I was that talented as a ten year old. "Expressing Yourself" was definitely my favorite song and so awesome it's on Youtube (just with a different cast)! Michael is just so hilarious! The music, by Elton John, was ten times better than Bono's music in Spiderman. Overall, great show and would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys dancing and laughing.

Next on my Broadway to do list - How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.

-Miraya

THEATER: Spiderman

So, despite awful reviews and many cast injuries, I decided my New York summer wouldn't be complete without seeing Spider-Man Turn Off the Dark on Broadway. My morning started at 9AM when Brandon and I went to Broadway to get in line for student rush tickets for How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. The line was ridiculously long and I knew we would have no chance of getting tickets so instead we walked a few blocks to the Spider-Man theater. After a 45 minute wait we had tickets in our hands for the 2PM matinee for a reasonable price of $30 each. We didn't get to choose our tickets since it was general rush, so we were placed in Orchestra row ZZ; at first we were excited that we had orchestra seats until we realized we were literally in the last row.

The first 20 minutes of the show were awful and nothing how I would imagine a Spiderman show to be like. It started with a history of Arachne, a Greek mythology of the first spider. Women flew across stage, weaving a web as Brandon and I stared at each other double checking we were in the right theater.  20 more minutes into the show I was surprised that the actor playing Spiderman was not the best singer, which was made even worse by the cheesy songs he was singing. I was rather disappointed in Bono, who wrote all the music. The song "DIY world" was probably one of the worst. As a craft girl who loves DIY (Do It Yourself_ projects, the song about turning the world into genetically modified creatures was quite disturbing. The only catchy song was "Rise Above," which was repeated multiple times in the show. They never even sang the Spiderman theme song though!

The best part of the play was the set. Screens in the background displayed action packed comic scenes and views of New York City. Backdrops bended and folded into new scenes and the best was a downward view from the Chrysler building with taxi lights down below. The setting was all very comic-book like with backdrops that looked like sketches, over exaggerated costumes and colorful clothing. Fight scenes were accompanied by "bam" and "pow" and other comic book fight noises. After Peter Parker's transformation into Spiderman he flies across the stage and through the audience. Unfortunately since I was in the last row I missed some of the stunts that took place in the balcony above us. The many flips and stunts were possible by having about 8 different actors playing Spiderman, which was obvious sometimes when Spiderman would fly to one side of the stage and then appear in the balcony a moment later. I was really curious if the actor playing Peter Parker was even doing any of the stunts.

Act Two was significantly better than Act One. There were much more stunts that were very good, despite the few minute "technical difficulty" pause where the audience laughed and slow clapped until the harness was fixed. The second act was much more Spiderman like with fighting and interactions with Mary Jane and Peter and I felt more involved in the play than the first act. The whole play I was wondering when the famous Spidey kiss would take place, and it finally happened during the bows.

One of my favorite scenes from the TV show The OC, replicating the perfect Spiderman kiss.

-Miraya